Over the last half decade, our landmark partnership with adidas has driven eco-innovation at all levels of the supply chain and created a global oceans movement through the power of sport. As we enter a crucial decade for the planet, here’s a look at what we’ve achieved — and what’s next

On Earth Day in 2015, Parley first announced our partnership with adidas. In the five years since, the brand has lived up to their promise of taking big, bold steps towards building a better future for the oceans — not only by phasing out single-use plastics and microbeads but by launching entire product lines and new collaborations to build a better future for our oceans and planet. They are not just a supporter of Parley, but a true collaborator and partner.

Together, we have brought some of the biggest and most tangible threats facing the marine environment to a global audience, while demonstrating the role we all can and must play in being a part of the solution. Though the power of sport, community, education and activism, we’ve turned the oceans cause into a truly global movement that transcends borders, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds through events like Parley Ocean School, 747 Warehouse St and Run for the Oceans.

THE PROTOTYPE

To launch our partnership and demonstrate a shared vision for collaboration, Parley and adidas unveiled a concept shoe made from reclaimed marine plastic waste at the United Nations in 2015. The Ultra Boost prototype featured an upper made of yarns and filaments reclaimed and recycled from ocean waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets. The fishing gear was once used in poaching operations exploiting vulnerable toothfish species in the Southern Ocean. Parley partner Sea Shepherd retrieved over 72 km of illegal gillnet and fishing line during Operation Icefish, a record-breaking campaign to stop the “Bandit 6” poaching vessels plundering under-patrolled, remote waters. The nets were abandoned by the notorious poaching vessel Thunder, which was later intentionally scuttled by its captain off the coast of West Africa following a 110-day chase by Sea Shepherd vessels the M/V Bob Barker and M/Y Sam Simon.

It’s estimated that lost and discarded gillnets, known as ghost nets, are responsible for more than 100,000 marine mammal deaths every year. They are the silent killers of the sea, wreaking havoc on underwater habitats and destroying delicate balances within the ecosystems that sustain this planet. It took the crew onboard the Sam Simon four weeks to remove the netting from the Southern Ocean. In the process, they returned thousands of toothfish and other bycatch to the sea. Captain Siddarth Chakravarty shared the incredible story at UN x Parley. He later took the stage with adidas x Parley collaborators to introduce one way these nets will find new life on land.

The adidas x Parley concept shoe was made in just six days in close collaboration with Sea Shepherd supported by green chemist John Warner and designer Alexander Taylor. The prototype shoe illustrated our joint commitment to protecting and conserving the oceans, and offered a glimpse of things to come.

SCALING UP

With over 8 million tons of plastic entering the planet’s oceans every year, both adidas and Parley firmly grasp the true scale of the problem we are facing – and recognize that only massive change will make a meaningful difference. We began by identifying immediate fixes and investing in R&D to bring the concept shoe and upcycled plastic into adidas’ global supply chain at a level that would make a true impact. The adidas Group moved swiftly to completely phase out the use of plastic bags in its retail stores by the end of Q1 2016. Together with their partner COTY, adidas also ended the use of plastic microbeads across all licensed body care products, and halted the use of plastic bottles in all meetings at its headquarters.

Parley, meanwhile, worked to develop the world’s first supply chain for upcycled marine waste and created Ocean Plastic® as a powerful symbol of change. Initially sourced from islands in the Maldives, we’ve now expanded our collection network to the Dominican Republic and Sri Lanka too, creating a steady demand for plastic waste that would otherwise end up in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

This expansion has in turn enabled adidas to accelerate production and expand the number of products made using our upcycled materials. Beyond apparel like shirts, socks and other performance wear, adidas produced 1 million pairs of shoes with Parley Ocean Plastic® in 2017, then 5 million in 2018, 11 million in 2019, and are now planning for around 15 million in 2020. This means less virgin plastic, reduced CO2 emissions and more awareness of the issue – with every product made serving as a wearable symbol of change that sparks questions, discussions and ideas about creating even more progress.

COLLABORATIONS

Leveraging a vast global network that spans science, sport, fashion, ocean conservation and more, adidas x Parley collaborations, limited-edition products and sponsorships have engaged a massive global audience. From an ongoing product line created with Stella McCartney to Ocean Plastic® kits for some of the biggest sports teams on the planet, our collaboration has brought the oceans cause to new audiences who might never have otherwise engaged, taken action and joined the movement.

Highlights so far include upcycled apparel for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and other Premier League football clubs, team kits for Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League, an ongoing collaboration with the University of Miami that has expanded to ocean education for local youth, tennis apparel and a unique ocean-side tennis match at the Australian Open and a collaboration with New Zealand’s famous All Blacks rugby team.

Uniting sport, the oceans and education, Parley Ocean School sessions in the Maldives, Australia, New York and Los Angeles have played host to adidas staff and luminaries ranging from Manchester United and Real Madrid players to the New Zealand’s national rugby union team. A-listers and C-suite leaders learn firsthand about threats to the marine environment from Parley experts and scientists – becoming powerful ambassadors and spokespeople for the need to reduce plastic and protect our oceans.

adidas Originals x Parley EQT Support ADV

Stella McCartney line made with Ocean Plastic®

RUN FOR THE OCEANS

RFTO — 2019

RFTO — 2018

RFTO — 2017

“First we created ripples on the surface, then more and more waves”

– Cyrill Gutsch, Parley founder

Millions of runners. One cause. In 2017, adidas and Parley teamed up for the inaugural Run For The Oceans – a global movement to engage people from all walks of life through sport, running and community. With initial events in New York and South Korea, the next year saw expansion from Shanghai to São Paulo, Toronto to Tokyo, Barcelona to Berlin… with almost a million people coming out in force to raise money for the oceans and Parley education programs. That year, participants covered over 12 million km for the oceans, and in 2019 the movement grew exponentially, with 2.2 million joining in to raise funds for Parley Ocean School and our new youth activist platform, Ocean Uprise.

Along with one-off events like 747 Warehouse St that bring ocean facts, threats and solutions to the public through displays and interactive exhibitions, Run for the Oceans events have now engaged huge new audiences LA, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, Berlin, London, Shanghai, Barcelona, Milan, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Toronto, Chengdu and even sweltering Dubai. In Mumbai, 3000 incredible people turned out to both run and help clean Versova Beach. Meanwhile, through the Runtastic and Joyrun apps, individual runners far far urban centres have logged their miles – tracking runs across cities, deserts, mountain ridges and remote coastlines. Everyone has a role in the movement, and everyone who takes part becomes yet ambassador for our planet’s blue ecosystems.

MORE ACTIVATIONS

Nature: Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial — NYC, 2019

The Future

adidas x Parley Ocean School — Miami 2019

adidas x Parley Ocean School — Rio 2016

adidas x Parley Ocean School — Maldives 2016

adidas x Parley Ocean School — Rio 2016

adidas x Parley Ocean School — Maldives 2019

adidas x Parley Ocean School — Jamaica 2016

Parley and adidas share a vision of inspiring a new generation of youth to care for the oceans and global environment through education and activism – and giving a voice to young people throughout the world. Together, we’re working to expand Parley Ocean School to nations around the global and in underserved communities in our home countries. Through our global Ocean Uprise program, we’re empowering a new generation of ocean activists with hands-on ocean learning in hotspots like the Hawaiian island chain, and connecting them to continue taking action back home.

At the same time, we share a belief that only new, eco-innovative products and systems can truly end the Toxic Age we are currently living in. Parley and adidas see the key to ending marine plastic pollution and other planetary threats not in recycling, but in the redesign and replacement of harmful materials, methods, systems and thinking. Plastic, fossil fuels and other toxic pollution must go. Together, we are collaborating with new partners and calling for a Material Revolution to save our oceans and our planet – inviting all members of the creative industries to take part in the Parley AIR strategy: Avoid. Intercept. Redesign.